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Chapter 38: The Sweetest Thing – November 15, 2025

“Do you know?  Aera’s blessing came true,” Yoongi murmured as he gazed down at his wife.

It was late afternoon on a dark and dreary day.  They were standing near the long windows that ordinarily revealed a perfect view of their backyard.  However, today rain was cascading down those windows distorting that sublime perspective.  But Yoongi was paying the weather no mind.  He was utterly captivated by his lovely wife.  He had just slid his arms around Nari and drawn her close to him.

“Who?”  Nari wrinkled her brow in confusion.

“My ex-fiancé.  The night I met you – when she broke up with me – she said, ‘May you find a woman worthy of you.’  

“I did, Nari.  I found a woman worthy of me.  Worth a hundred of me, in fact.”

She glanced up at him in surprise.  “I don’t know about that.  I don’t know any other guys who would have given up wine and sleep for me.  And taken on a job under my appa just to woo me.”

Yoongi smiled.  “You were – and still are – completely worth my every effort.”  Then he continued referencing the day they first met.  “I thought that was the best day of my life because she dumped me, and I was finally free of her.  But that wasn’t the reason it was the best day of my life.”

He lowered his head and claimed her lips in a sweet kiss.

“What was the reason then?” Nari wondered aloud, her lips brushing his as she spoke.

“That was the best day of my life because that’s the day I met you.  Now I am absolutely certain that God does dabble in the affairs of men.  Of this man anyway.  And this beautiful woman standing in front of me.”

She glanced out the window for a moment at the pouring rain.  “Are you saying that you wish to borrow my umbrella?”

“Hmm.  Perhaps.”  He glanced at her feet.  “And maybe buy you a new pair of shoes.”

Her face fell.  “No way, Yoongi!  I love those shoes.  It’s not every day that a handsome guy walks into a diner I’m working in just to rescue me from a Neanderthal and give me a new pair of sneakers.  I’m never throwing those shoes out!” 

“But, Nari, it’s been over a decade since I bought them for you!” he exclaimed, chuckling.

Just then, Jungju came into the room carrying his little brother.  Nari grinned at them.

“You kept your word to me, Yoongi.”

“What word?”

She beamed up at him.  “You gave me babies.”  Her eyes traveled to them again.  “Beautiful babies.”

“Mmm.  They get that from their eomma.”  His eyes were caressing her face.  “Nari, can I take you out tonight?”

“You mean on the date we’ve been planning for a month?  For our tenth anniversary?”

He chuckled.  “Can you believe we’ve been married for ten years?”

“No.  The years have flown by.”  Her eyes strayed towards their sons again.  “But when I look at Jungju, then I can believe it.  How is he so old already?” 

She glanced back at her husband.  “Do you have something special planned for tonight?  Is there another reason you’re asking me to go with you?”

He leaned towards her and set his cheek against her own as he whispered into her ear, “You’re looking a little thin these days, my dear.  I’m thinking you are in need of a trinity of desserts.”

A sweet smile suddenly curved her lips.  “As long as you take me somewhere that also has excellent black coffee.”

“All right, my peerless lily.  It’s a deal.  I’m thinking that I want to try the chocolate torte this time.”

“Really?” she asked in surprise.

“Mmhmm.  I think you were right.”

“About what?”

A mysterious smile crept over his countenance.  “I do have a secret craving for sweet things.”

“What makes you think so?”

“Well, I did marry you after all,” his smile exploded into a grin.

––

Nari was carefully descending their staircase a few hours later.  She was once again dressed in a flowing burgundy gown.  Looking ravishing.  But this time she didn’t stumble down the steps. 

He glanced at her feet and grinned.  “You still have those burgundy sneakers I bought you when we were dating?”

She beamed at him.  “Of course, I do!  Do you know how rare burgundy tennis shoes are?”

“I do.  It took me a month of searching to find them!”

As her feet reached the last step, she glanced up into his deep, mahogany orbs and sighed.  She would never tire of this man’s glorious eyes.

“My peerless lily, you still drive me silly,” Yoongi murmured.  “Even after ten years and the conquering of countless fears.”

Her obsidian eyes still sparkled up at him like they had that first night.  In the diner.  Those eyes of hers had threatened to steal all the glory from the twinkling night sky.  They still did.

“Yoongi,” she purred.  “I do love you!  Still writing me poems and playing me your heart’s songs after a decade.  I’m thinking I made the right choice.”

“What choice?”

“When I picked you,” she smiled as he slipped his arms around her.

“Oh, I know I made the right choice,” he murmured a moment later against her lips.

“What choice?”

“When I picked you.”  He sighed.  “Yeah, I had my pick of ten girls.  My appa lined them all up for me over the course of several months.  But then I met this cute, little waitress in this dumpy diner…”

“Oh, yeah?  How did that turn out for you?”

“Marvelously well,” he grinned.  “Who knew I would find such a precious gem in such an unexpected place?  You are still priceless to me, Nari.”

He released her a moment later as Jungju came walking up to them carrying his baby brother. 

Her elder son glanced up at his eomma out of his great, obsidian eyes and beseeched her, “Eomma, can Minhyuk come stay over tonight?  Please.”

As Jungju begged for his best friend to visit, her younger son stretched his tiny arms out towards her.  His little mouth cried, “Eomma,” while his soft, mahogany eyes drew her attention away from Jungju.

Yoongi glanced down at their adorable toddler.  Junghee definitely had a soft spot for his mommy.  Yoongi grinned.  Junghee’s appa could completely understand his little boy’s attitude.  Yoongi had quite the soft spot for her himself. 

And tonight he wanted her all to himself, so before she could pick up their younger son, Yoongi reached out and curled his long fingers around her wrist and tugged her towards him.  “Boys, I’m taking Eomma to dinner.  Be good for Aunt Minha and Uncle Naru.  And, yes, Jungju, Minhyuk is always welcome to come over.  We’ll see you both in a couple of hours.”

He tugged Nari even closer to him as he pulled her towards the front door.

Her heart skipped a happy beat as she peered up at her husband and teased him, “You’d better be glad my appa isn’t here to witness your behavior.  Dragging me about like a caveman again.”

A smile graced his lips as he glanced down at her.  “But never like a Neanderthal, my dear.”

She beamed up at him.

“Oh!” he exclaimed suddenly.  “Wait a minute!  Come on!”  This time he tugged her towards their kitchen.  “I got you a little something for our anniversary…”

As they entered the kitchen, her eyes grew wide as she gazed at the huge vase of white lilies standing on the island.

“Oh, Yoongi!  They are stunning!”  She walked up to them and bent her head to smell their blooms.  “Why!  There must be two dozen here.”  After a moment, she glanced down at her engagement ring.  “It’s still beautiful, Yoongi.  It looks just like one of these lovely lilies.  I still remember the night you gave it to me.”

“Well, it was either that lily ring or a shoe,” Yoongi commented offhandedly.

“A shoe?” she asked, confused.

“Yes,” he frowned, “but for some reason they didn’t have any shoe engagement rings.”

“Yoongi?  Have you been helping yourself to some wine again?” she asked suspiciously.  “You are acting very much like you did the night I first met you.”

“Nari, I told you, I wasn’t drunk that night.  I was high on freedom.  And on your beauty.  As I am tonight.”  He grinned down at her, revealing those adorable pink gums of his.

“You’re not making any sense.  You were going to propose to me with a pair of shoes?”

“No.  A ring in the shape of a shoe.  That would have been fitting, wouldn’t it?”  He couldn’t help but chuckle.

She looked at him like he was nuts.  “Yoongi, I am extremely grateful that there were no shoe rings available that night.  This little lily is just perfect,” she glanced at her finger.

“Just like my little lily,” he murmured, reaching out to slip his elegant fingers around her wrist again.  He tugged her close and bent his face near hers.  Until he was breathing on her. 

She smiled.  She would never grow tired of Yoongi’s breath.  “I just wanna breathe your breath,” she whispered, quoting the song he’d composed for her.

He lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers.  “Your wish is my command, my dear.”  Then he opened his mouth, and his sweet breath sailed across her lips.  After a few more breathless moments, he murmured, “Are you ready to go enjoy your trinity of desserts?”

“Yes.  But, Yoongi, this time I think I want to try key lime pie instead of an apple dumpling.  I’m ready to try something new.  And I bet it’ll be to your taste too.  After all, it’s a little tart.”

“You want lemon tart and key lime pie?”

“Mmhmm.”

He gazed down at her out of hooded eyes.  “Yes, it fits you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re still sassy.  Just like lemon tart.  And key lime pie.”

“Sassy, huh?”  Her lips curved into a smirk.

Yoongi commented, “I might want just a bite of your lemon tart.”

“Just a bite, hmm?”

“Mmhmm.  Lemon tart is, after all, pretty sour.  You wouldn’t want to ruin me by feeding me too much.”

“Huh?”

“Even after all these years, I’m still sweet, aren’t I?”

She beamed at him.  “Yes, Yoongi, you are definitely sweet.  Sweet like sugar.”

She lifted her face to test out her theory on his lips.  As she savored him, though, she wondered if she’d been wrong.  Yoongi actually tasted more like honey.  But either way, he was definitely the sweetest thing that had ever entered her life.  Even sweeter than a perfect trinity of desserts.

––

Three Years Later

The bell above the door to the ice cream parlor suddenly began ringing furiously.  Bada glanced up from her turtle sundae.  And forgot to swallow.

The most beautiful boy she had ever laid eyes on was walking through the doorway.  His mouth full of laughter, he looked up suddenly, catching her eye with his own.  His chuckle died in mid-laugh.  A stunned expression flowed over his countenance.

Dahui glanced at the girl she’d come to think of as her older sister.  Then her gaze traveled across the restaurant to land on a gorgeous guy.  The handsome young man her friend was eyeing with such interest.  Her own eye assessed him critically.  If she’d had to guess, she would have supposed him to be in his early twenties.  Perhaps…twenty-two?

She sighed deeply.  She had a feeling she wasn’t going to be seeing very much of Bada in the near future.  Especially since that guy seemed to be walking this way now.

Oh, well. 

In a few months she would be starting high school anyway.  It was doubtful that she would have much time to watch romances on television anymore.  Perhaps she’d get to watch one unfold in real life instead…